Disney's Earth Appropriate for little ones?

[snoopy5386]

I am thinking of taking DD to see this as her 1st movie in the theater. She just turned 3 a could of weeks ago. Can anyone who has seen it tell me about it? Does it have any violent or gory scenes - animals killing each other or lots of blood or anything like that?
Thanks!

 

[EthansMom]

I haven't seen it, but it's a documentary... might not hold the attention of the preschool set.

From the commercials, it looked like most of the footage was from "Planet Earth" which is awesome.

I would hold off and rent the DVD for a 3 year-old.

 

[lauren5406]

There was an article about it in this weeks Newsweek. So this information is not from first hand knowledge but I did read the article. It was saying how this is a real perspective of how things in the wild are but the more violent/sad aspects are left up to the imagination. The article specifically mentions a predator/prey scene (can't remember which animals) where as the predator is about to take down its prey the scene cuts away leaving the outcome to be implied. It does have a G rating but the decision is up to you.

 

[disney_family_1247]

We saw the preview for this in a theater a few weeks ago. My youngest (who will be three next month) was enthralled by it. She kept shouting out the different animals she saw. We are going to take all of the kids to see it this weekend

 

[snoopy5386]

anyone else see this today?

 

[3prettyprincesses]

I took my 3 girls (ages 9, 7 and 6) to see Earth today. Holy cow! I was suprised by some of the content (not for myself but for my kids). First, there were numerous parts where lions attack an elephant, a cheetah attacks a gazelle and a polar bear attacks walruses. Then, they start the ocean sequence with a baby whale and it's mom. Well, all is good and wonderful, the pair are making their way to a different ocean for more food when they suddenly talk about predators! Yikes! An ENORMOUS great white shark leaps out of the water and snaps it's jaws on a sea lion!! My 6 year old burst into tears and curled up on my lap with her face buried. My 7 year old immediately started to cry and hide as well. Not only did they show the stupid shark in sloooooow motion but they showed it from 3 different angles. Also, there is a scene with a father polar bear who is starving and weak from lack of food. They show him limping around (while talking about how he's going to die without food!) and then he sadly lays down and closes his eyes to die! Again, my girls started crying and I'm saying, it's ok, he's just sleeping!

All in all, I would not recommend taking young children to see this even though it's rated G. I thought it was going to be more cutesy (some parts were). Just my opinion...

 

[Deb & Bill]

My husband, my 15 yr old son and I went to see it this evening. Husband and I loved it. My son was bored. It is not for small children. The death and near death scenes can be graphic. And if they understand the narrator, they will find out one baby elephant is going to die (it got separated from the herd in a sand/dust storm and wound up going the wrong way).

 

[disneymomof2boyz]

My boys are 4 and 3 and they watch Animal Planet all the time, they are used to alligators, lions and all different types of animals that prey on other animals. So, I don't think that they will be too shocked when it comes to this movie. It all depends on what you expose your children to, we don't do guns or violence, but we do the circle of life, because we believe it's a natural part of life. When they were younger, they would also ask what lion and sharks eat... so we told them.

 

[txsoccermom]

I took my 3 girls (ages 9, 7 and 6) to see Earth today. Holy cow! I was suprised by some of the content (not for myself but for my kids). First, there were numerous parts where lions attack an elephant, a cheetah attacks a gazelle and a polar bear attacks walruses. Then, they start the ocean sequence with a baby whale and it's mom. Well, all is good and wonderful, the pair are making their way to a different ocean for more food when they suddenly talk about predators! Yikes! An ENORMOUS great white shark leaps out of the water and snaps it's jaws on a sea lion!! My 6 year old burst into tears and curled up on my lap with her face buried. My 7 year old immediately started to cry and hide as well. Not only did they show the stupid shark in sloooooow motion but they showed it from 3 different angles. Also, there is a scene with a father polar bear who is starving and weak from lack of food. They show him limping around (while talking about how he's going to die without food!) and then he sadly lays down and closes his eyes to die! Again, my girls started crying and I'm saying, it's ok, he's just sleeping!

All in all, I would not recommend taking young children to see this even though it's rated G. I thought it was going to be more cutesy (some parts were). Just my opinion...

Wow - I was going to take DS and DD this weekend and I'm definitely not after reading this! I know it's part of nature, but come on, a G rated Disney movie with that stuff???

Thanks for posting this, and hope everyone has emotionally recovered!

 

[pennymom]

I saw it today with DS7 and DS4. The 7-year-old was enthralled...we also teach our children about the circle of life, and also how we are a part of it on the top of the food chain (usually). I absolutely loved it and will consider buying it for my son's first grade teacher & class when it comes out on DVD. Like one of the posters above, we teach real-life and nature rather than weapons and violence to our boys.

While there were scenes of predators catching prey, it was not graphic at all. When a cheetah caught a gazelle after a long chase, it put it's paw onto the animal, and then the scene changed. You knew it was going to eat it, but there was no blood shown. Everything that you would expect in a nature documentary was implied, but never anything gory or particularly scary. Fascinating...definitely.

It is meant to be an educational movie about the earth/ecosystems/what we're doing to the planet, and especially about the cycle of life. The whole point of showing the father polar bear lying down to die is that the polar ice is melting so much earlier in the season due to global warming that he couldn't get to land before the pack ice melted. He ended up swimming for days to make it to shore, and then had no energy left to hunt. It is a true "reality show", not the junk that's on primetime. It also teaches the kids that the things we do every day, like leaving the lights on, has far-reaching impact on things like polar bears.

My 4-year-old liked most of it, but is too young to understand what the movie is really about. A few times he did inform the audience that he "hates the 'insert name of predator here'".

If you have younger children who are accustomed to the way nature works, they will not be scared by this movie. If your kids are a bit more sheltered, wait until they start learning about the food chain in school and it won't be such a shock to them. It is rated G because there's absolutely nothing gory about it. Parts are definitely sad, but that's a part of learning about the cycle of life.

Can you tell I'm a bit passionate about this? I'll get down off of my soapbox now...

 

[3prettyprincesses]

I saw it today with DS7 and DS4. The 7-year-old was enthralled...we also teach our children about the circle of life, and also how we are a part of it on the top of the food chain (usually). I absolutely loved it and will consider buying it for my son's first grade teacher & class when it comes out on DVD. Like one of the posters above, we teach real-life and nature rather than weapons and violence to our boys.

While there were scenes of predators catching prey, it was not graphic at all. When a cheetah caught a gazelle after a long chase, it put it's paw onto the animal, and then the scene changed. You knew it was going to eat it, but there was no blood shown. Everything that you would expect in a nature documentary was implied, but never anything gory or particularly scary. Fascinating...definitely.

It is meant to be an educational movie about the earth/ecosystems/what we're doing to the planet, and especially about the cycle of life. The whole point of showing the father polar bear lying down to die is that the polar ice is melting so much earlier in the season due to global warming that he couldn't get to land before the pack ice melted. He ended up swimming for days to make it to shore, and then had no energy left to hunt. It is a true "reality show", not the junk that's on primetime. It also teaches the kids that the things we do every day, like leaving the lights on, has far-reaching impact on things like polar bears.

My 4-year-old liked most of it, but is too young to understand what the movie is really about. A few times he did inform the audience that he "hates the 'insert name of predator here'".

If you have younger children who are accustomed to the way nature works, they will not be scared by this movie. If your kids are a bit more sheltered, wait until they start learning about the food chain in school and it won't be such a shock to them. It is rated G because there's absolutely nothing gory about it. Parts are definitely sad, but that's a part of learning about the cycle of life.

Can you tell I'm a bit passionate about this? I'll get down off of my soapbox now...

I didn't say it was bloody or gory but seriously, when the cheetah chases the gazelle in very slow motion, you see how the gazelle stumbles and rolls around. Then the cheetah attacks it with it's paws and puts it's mouth into the gazelle's neck. Sure no blood was shown but it was definitely sad. As were other parts.

I honestly hope you're not talking about my kids being sheltered because I homeschool either. (I'm on my soapbox now). Just because they were scared (not my 9 year old but my 7 and 6 year old) then they're sheltered? They understand the circle of life pretty darn well but still those parts frightened the younger ones. That was the whole reason I posted this because the original poster specifically asked if it was appropriate for little ones. (she said her daughter just turned 3)

My 9 year old was totally fine watching all the parts of Earth but my 2 younger ones were not. I don't think that they were scared because they're sheltered. They are certainly acquainted with and accustomed to nature. I think it was just too intense for them at this age hence why I posted my review in the first place.

 

[disneymomof2boyz]

I don't believe that anyone meant any harm by saying the word "sheltered". I just think that the truth is that each parent(s) decide what children are exposed to and at what age. I know parents who let little kids watch shows like Baby Story and Birth Day and have no problem with. Now, we just don't think it's appropriate. But we do let our kids watch animals prey on other animals.
And the truth is that we all shelter our kids from what we personally find is inapropriate, and no one should take offense in that!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

I don't believe that anyone meant any harm by saying the word "sheltered". I just think that the truth is that each parent(s) decide what children are exposed to and at what age. I know parents who let little kids watch shows like Baby Story and Birth Day and have no problem with. Now, we just don't think it's appropriate. But we do let our kids watch animals prey on other animals.
And the truth is that we all shelter our kids from what we personally find is inapropriate, and no one should take offense in that!

You're probably right. I tend to get defensive when it comes to people calling my kids sheltered just because we homeshool. (I'm not saying that's what the previous poster is doing though) Geeze, it's not like we live in the hills with a dirt floor and never see other people. I just get tired of that argument, that they're sheltered or not socialized because we choose to homeschool. My kids are very outgoing and we do lots of activities with other homeschooled kids and school kids.

Anywho, back on topic here...some kids would be frightened by the scenes in Earth while obviously others would have no problem. I was relating our experience with having seen it yesterday. Like I said, my 9 year old was fine, it was my younger 2 who had the problem.

 

[Subrbnmommy]

Ohh, no! I wish that I would've read this thread yesterday! My DD5 is seeing it with school today. She's very sensitive when it comes to animals. She gets sad if she sees a dead bee!

I'm not saying that I wouldn't have let her watch it but maybe not with school and I would've prepared her before hand.

 

[aestapa]

My kids (5 and 3) love Animal Planet and Discovery. They would rather watch Shark Week than Disney! We have several of the great white shark documentaries DVR'd. We were watching once when the shark shot out of the water and grabbed the seal, my oldest yelled "Got him!".

As someone else said, its the circle of life and it will depend on the kid. Mine aren't afraid of it and we talk about it. I know of other kids who would be freaked out.

 

[bclydia]

Didn't read all the replies but I will say that DH accompanied our daughter's kindergarten class and the rest of her elementary school to this yesterday morning for Earth Day. It didn't go well. He said it really didn't hold the attention of the kids. There were several animals who were the breakfast for a predator. It was a documentary and while interesting for older kids and adults, it wasn't something to take little ones to.

 

[pennymom]

3prettyprincesses, when I said 'sheltered' I meant no insult or slight. Even if I had known at the time that you homeschool, I wouldn't have meant it that way. I apologize if that's how it sounded.

We all 'shelter' our children in different ways. Mine are never allowed to play guns/weapons because I try to teach them a respect for all human life. Some families let young children watch PG13 and R movies, mine aren't even always allowed to see PG. DS7 says I'm too strict about it, but that's how it is in our house. We all have different ideas of what is best...and imagine how boring the world would be if we all agreed about everything and raised our children to think the same way!

I believe that it is important to teach my children from a very young age to respect nature and every part of the cycle of life. If the lion didn't eat the elephant, the lions would starve and there would be no one to care for their cubs, who would then die also. If there were no more lions, the elephants become too numerous for the land to sustain them, and then they would die of starvation...etc., etc. Just an inaccurate example, but I hope what I mean is clear.

I want my children to understand the beauty and importance of the cycle of life from a very young age. I believe that it fosters more respect for the critters that we share the planet with, as well as for the planet itself. I want them to understand that even though it is sad, and even scary, sometimes, but that it is very, very necessary to ensure that the cycle of life goes on.

I think Earth is very appropriate for ANY age, even though very young children cannot yet grasp the whole concept.

 

[disneymomof2boyz]

3prettyprincesses, when I said 'sheltered' I meant no insult or slight. Even if I had known at the time that you homeschool, I wouldn't have meant it that way. I apologize if that's how it sounded.

We all 'shelter' our children in different ways. Mine are never allowed to play guns/weapons because I try to teach them a respect for all human life. Some families let young children watch PG13 and R movies, mine aren't even always allowed to see PG. DS7 says I'm too strict about it, but that's how it is in our house. We all have different ideas of what is best...and imagine how boring the world would be if we all agreed about everything and raised our children to think the same way!

I believe that it is important to teach my children from a very young age to respect nature and every part of the cycle of life. If the lion didn't eat the elephant, the lions would starve and there would be no one to care for their cubs, who would then die also. If there were no more lions, the elephants become too numerous for the land to sustain them, and then they would die of starvation...etc., etc. Just an inaccurate example, but I hope what I mean is clear.

I want my children to understand the beauty and importance of the cycle of life from a very young age. I believe that it fosters more respect for the critters that we share the planet with, as well as for the planet itself. I want them to understand that even though it is sad, and even scary, sometimes, but that it is very, very necessary to ensure that the cycle of life goes on.

I think Earth is very appropriate for ANY age, even though very young children cannot yet grasp the whole concept.

We have the same thinking and I completely agree!!

 

[JamesMom]

I took my kids to see this on Wednesday. DS6 was ok and DS4 (his first foray into a theatre for a movie) was more interested in the seat cushions and stomping on popcorn to watch the screen. He did point out some animals. There are some scenes of hunter eating their prey but nothing gratitious graphic. The photography was stunning and hope to watch it calmly on blu-ray at some point with limited child interruptions. BTW - we left the theatre since DS4 was getting too restless about an 1:20 into the movie. Don't know how much we missed.

 

[GEM]

We all loved it...including my five year old. I will say that he's into that kind of thing. We have all the "Planet Earth" DVDs and he watches them all the time. Plus, he watches lots of Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel, and, like somebody else mentioned, Shark Week is a HUGE deal in our house. So, he knows animals eat other animals and it didn't bother him at all.